Karachi cheap, Islamabad most expensive in Pakistan

Islamabad, Jan 14: Pakistan's capital Islamabad was declared the most expensive city in the country, while Karachi was the second among the cheapest cities, a media report said on Tuesday.

Karachi emerged as the second cheapest among all towns and cities in terms of inflation rate, the Dawn newspaper cited an Inflation Monitor-December 2013 report as saying.

Vehari, a small town in Punjab, was declared the cheapest place in Pakistan.

The main inflation in Karachi was 6.5 percent with food inflation at 6.4 percent and non-food at 6.5 percent, the report said. The main inflation in Vehari was 5.5 percent, food inflation at 5.4 percent and non-food inflation at 5.6 percent.

Vehari, a small town in Punjab, was declared the cheapest place

According to the report, Islamabad topped the list of cities where the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was highest in December 2013.

At the end of December (year-on-year basis), the main inflation for Islamabad was 15.5 percent, food inflation was 11.4 percent and non-food was at 18.7 percent, highest compared to all parts of the country.

Larkana in Sindh recorded the second highest inflation of 13.9 percent mainly led by food inflation of 14.3 percent.

Peshawar and Quetta were also listed among the cities with high inflation rate. Lahore was listed among the low inflation cities as the CPI was 8 percent led by food inflation of 9.5 percent.